Between The Farm And Your Table: The Finance Behind Thanksgiving Dinner

The prices of agricultural futures depend on a number of external factors—and these prices ultimately impact what you pay for your food. (NAPS)

(NAPSI)—When you sit down to a Thanksgiving feast this year, you may not
be thinking about the global financial markets that helped land the meal on
your table. The ingredients in your favorite stuffing, the butter in those
mashed potatoes and even the gasoline in the car that got your relatives to
your door, all cost something. What goes into determining these prices?

Long before your dinner, each ingredient traveled along a global supply
chain that started with producers, continued with processors and ultimately
ended at the supermarket or the gas station. The prices of commodities like
food and oil are impacted by this journey.

It often starts with the farmer and, like all business owners, farmers
must turn a profit. Unpredictable events, such as severe weather, swings in
global demand and reductions in available farmland, can negatively impact
that profit. To mitigate these risks, farmers and others in the supply chain
come to the futures marketplace. Here, the price of a commodity like corn can
be locked in with binding contracts known as futures. So even if bad weather
hits or disease hurts livestock populations, a farmer already knows what the
selling price of his product, and can plan for it.

Futures can help prices become more stable, which means consumers see
relative consistency when they buy groceries. So, when you made your trip to
the grocery store to prepare your Thanksgiving table, the futures industry
was already in motion.

To learn more, check out Futures Fundamentals at www.futuresfundamentals.org.
Here, you can learn more about the who, why and what
of futures markets in an accessible and fun way. The site is divided into
three sections, each featuring the role of futures as told through stories,
interactive infographics, videos and quizzes.
Activities first break down key financial concepts including microeconomics
and supply and demand. You can learn how familiar tasks, like buying a home
or car, are affected by futures markets. After those initial lessons, there
is even a trading simulator, so you can put what you've learned to use. The
site also provides teachers with modules to bring these economics lessons to
classrooms, all online and at no cost.

Follow Futures Fundamentals on Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn and Instagram to
stay up to date on new content as it is added. And enjoy your dinner!